Costa, Alberto, 44, Cloetesdal farmer murdered, Stellenbosch

Farmer Alberto Costa’s shooting death recorded on unique video-clip from security camera: Stellenbosch

Unique video shows moment of Stellenbosch farmer Alberto Costa’s death:  shown in Cape Town court

2012-08-07 Carryn-Ann Nel – Cape Town High Court. A brief video clip dated 11/02/18 and timed at 02:38:10 shows the exact moment when Stellenbosch farmer Alberto Costa, 44, was shot dead wearing only his pajama-pants on the porch of his homestead.
   It shows Costa standing on the porch with a shotgun, then he’s shot and falls down. 
Costa was shot dead on 18 February 2011 while he had stepped out to investigate a breakin.
  On trial are three black males – Mfundiso Yese (25), Simamkele Mralaza (29) and Cedric Mphakati (27). All three deny guilt. 
   However – a fourth co-accused, Vicicelo Madolo (27) was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June in a plea-bargaining dea. He testified that he, the three accused men and one other man who has not been apprehended, had gone to Costa’s farm that night.
    Asked by advocate Maria Marshall whether they knew of the security camera on the farmhouse, Madola said ‘Yes, we saw it, we noticed it.’  The court viewed the clip in slow motion first while Madola explained the video-material step-by-step with each frame, testifying:
   “At the upper part of the porch I saw the deceased. The person below wearing a rucksack is accused Nr 3 (Mphakati). I stood near him. Accused Nr 3 then disappeared into the woods. The deceased had a shotgun in one hand. I laid down when I saw him with a gun in the hand.’ 
   A person on the left of the video clip was identified by Madolo as Simamkele Mralaza, accused Nr. 2.  
   Madolo said: “the deceased was shot then, that’s why he fell down. Accused Nr 2 (Mralaza) then jumped across the wall. At that moment when the deceased fell down I remained lying down at the wall because I was afraid he was going to shoot me,’ he testified.
The trial continues.
http://www.dieburger.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Video-wys-hoe-boer-sterf-20120807

ORIGINAL NEWS REPORT:

On 2011-02-19  ‘Die Burger’ journalist Malani Venter reported that 44-year-old commercial farmer Alberto Costa was shot dead during as she described it, ‘a gunfight ‘ with armed black males who had dug a hole beneath the farm fence to attack his heavily-fortified Cloetesdal homestead – located 500 metres from the R304 highway and close to Khayamandi township.  Mrs Zelda Costa and their children, 3 and 8 years old, were not physically injured.